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SUMMARY:&quot\;Why a bacterial army marches on its stomach&quot\; - Martin
  Welch
DTSTART:20221028T140000Z
DTEND:20221028T153000Z
UID:TALK182387@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:105683
DESCRIPTION:By any metric that you care to apply\, bacteria are the most s
 uccessful organisms on the planet. Some species have even evolved to becom
 e pathogenic. In this talk\, we'll focus on the life\, loves and fancies o
 f a one particular opportunistic pathogen\, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Given 
 the chance\, this bug can (and does) infect almost any soft tissue\,and po
 ses a particular problem for people with chronic lung disease. Unfortunate
 ly\, the organism is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics - to t
 he extent that there are now few\, if any drugs left to treat the infectio
 ns caused by some strains. This is an issue\, because Pseudomonas loves th
 e built environment\, and many of us are exposed to it on a daily basis. H
 owever\, there is hope. It turns out that Pseudomonas has a particular pre
 dilection for consuming fat\, especially in infection scenarios. This cons
 umed fat is metabolized to yield both energy and biomass. It turns out tha
 t this may well be an Achilles heel\, and is exploitable as a drug target.
  We'll also cover some related topics\, including how we can step on the g
 as pedal (or slam on the brakes) of evolution in this bug\, how growth alo
 ngside other airway inhabitants can drastically alter the susceptibility o
 f Pseudomonas to antibiotics\, and how a "master regulator" (a sort of "on
 e ring to rule them all" in Tolkien-speak) controls virulence and AMR.\nSe
 e you all next week.\n
LOCATION:Jean Thomas Lecture theatre\, Sanger Building\, Tennis Court Road
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